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Novelist John Brandon has a knack for creating unsympathetic characters that you root for despite your better judgments. And with his debut Arkansas , about midway through you kind of get the sense that, gee, this is going to end badly .

Okay, so let’s agree right now that Jonathan Franzen needs no more press. Long before Freedom’s release date, the novel’s buzz was met with a feminist critique of the New York Times’ Book Review, lead by novelists Jodi Piccoult and Jennifer Weiner.

Those who think historical fiction is a waste of time better just move on. Those who think that historical characters and events can’t be rendered through the literary lens of powerful fiction should just stick with history texts.

Growing up, my sister was a voracious reader of science fiction and fantasy. I on the other hand couldn’t be bothered with it. I was too much of a realist and always found the book covers totally weird. I was sure based on the cover that I would not like what was inside (I know, I know, “one should never judge a book…”) Lucky for me now, I have a son who is quite the fan of science fiction and fantasy; giving me the opportunity to discover some of what my own childhood judged too harshly.